Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/121

Rh more strictly the old Berber superstitions and the practices of the cabala, or mystic theosophy of the Hebrews. Side by side with wise rabbis one can find here majouses, that is, magi, and kahinas, or fortune-tellers. Whereas it is a well-known fact that Jews living in the Mellah in Moslem towns are despised as unclean and are periodically persecuted because of the fiery hate of the Faithful of Islam, in Debdu the situation is just reversed, for here the Jews hold the upper hand and the Moslems work for them as servants. Seeking some explanation of this, I was informed that the proximity of a tribe that is rather indifferent to the law of the Prophet and regards Ben Sliman as the greatest of the saints may account for it. I feel, however, that this may not be sufficient reason for the unusual relationship between Moslems and Jews and that the real explanation may be found in the fact that the local Jews have been agriculturists for a very long time and have taught the better practice of the science to the natives of Floushe, Hassian el-Jhudi and other localities, assuring them through this a basis of existence at a time when war disrupted the regular commercial life and cut off contact with ordinary sources of supply.

At the point where the Mellulu flows into the largest of Moroccan rivers, the Muluya, there was located in the time of the Ptolemies the ancient city of Galafa. Now in its place one finds only a colonization center with a military post and a small native village, which, taken together, form the little town of Gwersif. This present native settlement was built at the time of Al-Bekri and still has about it the oldest walls extant from this period.